'Un-Australian': Revellers rubbish Lake Hume

AUSTRALIA Day revellers at Lake Hume have been labelled un-Australian after leaving a mountain of rubbish in the wake of Saturday’s celebration.

Broken bottles, empty slabs of alcohol, inflatable boats and even a basketball backboard were among the flotsam and jetsam on the shores of Kookaburra Point at the weekend.

At one covered picnic area a garbage bin was overflowing, rubbish littered the ground while two bins within five metres were almost empty.

Lachlan Pinder, a regular at the lake, snapped some pictures in shock and disgust early on Sunday morning.

“The amount of garbage and recycling materials that had been left by revellers was staggering,” he said.

“Several locations had boxes and boxes of empty bottles, inflatable boats and general rubbish,” he said.

“At one spot there was a 20-metre-long stretch of black plastic, a cooler, four or five empty slabs of alcohol and even a basketball backboard.

“Aside from these larger dumps of rubbish it was nearly impossible to find a five-metre section of the beach that was not littered with bottles and cans, many of which were broken and buried in the sand.”

The Aussie flag was ubiquitous among the rubbish.

“One thing that was common throughout all the litter on the ground was a prevalence of images of the Australian flag,” Mr Pinder said.

“It was everywhere, which to me suggests the people who left all this rubbish consider themselves to be proud and patriotic Australians, celebrating their country in a proud and ‘Aussie’ way.

“The irony here is that on this day intended to acknowledge how lucky we are to be able to live in such a wonderful part of the world, there are some among us who believe that a proper way of celebrating Australia is to pollute the very land they claim to love.

“I don’t know the answers.

“All I will suggest is that showing respect and love for Australia truly resides in trying to preserve its beauty rather than the more traditional flag-waving and copious alcohol consumption that so many others enjoy.”

Wodonga Council contractors cleaned up the rubbish and litter early on Sunday.